Members of the media were afforded their first chance to see new quarterback Sam Darnold throwing passes to Seattle Seahawks teammates when the team had an open OTA practice Monday.
Unlike last year, Seahawks’ defense now gets to “just play fast”
Darnold, a 2024 Pro Bowler who takes over at QB following the March trade of Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders, did not appear to have his best day. In the same 7-on-7 drill in the red zone, he threw two interceptions in a three-play span, then later had two straight throws behind the intended target. Darnold also had some nice throws during the session, so perhaps it would be best described as an up-and-down practice for him.
At the same time, backup Drew Lock had a nice showing against the second-team defense Monday, and there’s always the fact that the Hawks have third-round rookie Jalen Milroe as a wild card in their QB mix.
Related: Notes and observations from Seahawks’ first open OTA
So when Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday morning, host Mike Salk addressed the elephant in the room: Is Sam Darnold 100% going to be the Seahawks’ starting QB in 2024?
Macdonald’s response was respectful, but also… well, let’s just make it as cut and dry as we can.
Here’s exactly how the exchange about Darnold and Seattle’s QB situation went between Macdonald and Salk.
"Sam's our starting quarterback."#Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald to @BrockHuard & @TheMikeSalk on @SeattleSports.
FULL VIDEO 📺: https://t.co/2nHH3MqeNL pic.twitter.com/ZSwNxMOpR7
— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) June 3, 2025
Mike Salk’s question
“So I feel bad asking this cause it feels like a ‘gotcha’ question, but I really don’t mean it that way and if there’s no way to answer it I guess I would understand that. But, look, was out here yesterday, Sam didn’t have his best day, obviously a couple of picks, etc. And I guess I almost have to ask, but I hate asking this: Is there anything that could happen, other than an injury between now and the beginning of the season, that would lead to a different quarterback being…?”
Mike Macdonald’s answer
“No, you guys are crazy. Like, I respect you gotta ask it, but like… it’s just a crazy question. Sam’s our starting quarterback. We love him, he’s doing a tremendous job.
“I think it’s funny that the media is out there for like the first day and all of a sudden they know exactly how good we’re going to be and how good all the players are and all the tempos. We (haven’t) even put on pads yet. Like, we haven’t made one tackle.
(Editor’s note: Macdonald used a playfully sarcastic tone for the next paragraph.)
“And it turns out a practice, it’s a great way to build culture by letting guys know that they can’t make mistakes. That’s exactly what we’re shooting for. So go out to practice, be tight, make sure you don’t make a mistake because then, God forbid, you’re the worst player of all-time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision.
“Like, that is not what we’re trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way, and then we go out on the practice field, go freaking let it rip. And then we’ll go fix it. We’ll go. We’ve got time. It’s June – it’s June 3. We’ll go. OK, they’re going to get plenty of reps. We’ll get those things fixed.
“I mean, Sam made a lot of great throws yesterday. He’s gashing us on third-and-goal to start the day out, too. So yeah, that was kind of a crazy question.”
Hear the full Brock and Salk conversation with Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald in the video at the top of this post of the podcast player below. Catch Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.
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